Abu Zubaydah
Detainee #10016
In February 2008, CIA Director Michael Hayden testified before Congress that Abu Zubaydah had been waterboarded during interrogation. Zubaydah was captured in March 2002 when U.S. intelligence teams, backed by more than 100 local police officers, moved in on a suspected al Qaeda safe house in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The administration characterized the prisoner as "chief of operations" for al Qaeda, perhaps the number three in authority. But FBI officials called him al Qaeda's "travel agent" and said he was "insane, certifiable, split personality." At a secret jail in Thailand, Abu Zubaydah would be the first U.S. prisoner subjected to harsh interrogation techniques approved by the administration and covered by legal opinions issued by the Justice Department. In 2005, hundreds of hours of videotapes of those interrogations were destroyed. In 2006, Abu Zubaydah was transferred to Guantanamo where he remains. No charges have been filed against him.
